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Interviewed by Lee Murray

Lee Murray

Talking dragons is one of my favourite past-times. Okay, and reading, writing and flying on dragons too… Whatever, dragons are cool. My middle-grade dragon fiction caught the attention of Lee Murray who has won five Sir Julius Vogel Awards and an Australasian Shadows Award for writing and editing.

The short list for the 2016 Sir Julius Vogel Awards has been out for a while. Although I’ve been very busy writing and have neglected to post this earlier, I’m very excited to be a finalist in two categories!

To be eligible for Best New Talent, writers must have had their first story or book published less than four years ago. MIne was my short story Dad’s Wisdom, in the Baby Teeth anthology in 2013. A writer may only ever be shortlisted twice for this category.

Check out all the finalists here. The winners will be revealed on June 5th at Au Contraire, the New Zealand National Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention, in Wellington this coming weekend.

Call of the Sea – Living Through Loss

Thirteen years ago today, my son died. He was half of fraternal twins – the healthy half. His twin sister had been chronically ill for two years, and I had been housebound caring for her. Tough times for an extrovert.

After her recovery, we had a normal life for three months, out & about with the twins and their older brother. Having fun.

Then Tommy died, overnight of strep A.

Plunged into an abyss, I had to keep mothering, keep going for my kids. I’m so thankful I had them to wake up to. My husband and I clung to each other in an ocean of grief. Our family was our life raft. The community rallied around us, keeping us afloat. It was fourteen months before I laughed again. Two years before I felt anywhere near normal. Our family would never be the same again.

We now have four healthy kids and one somewhere ‘on the other side.’

My story, Call of the Sea, in the At the Edge anthology, explores how easily people lose their sense of identity when they lose a child. In order to survive, we need to be nurtured. Kendra, estranged from her cheating ex-husband, doesn’t get this support. As her life disintegrates, she journeys to the edge of insanity. Or is she sane? Maybe the rest of the world just can’t see what she does.

Tiny excerpts from Call of the Sea:

From the first scene…

“Wind moans through the tunnel on the deserted playground. The ropes on the massive climbing frame jerk. Grey waves thrash the shore, flinging spray over the naked sand. The Pōhutukawa dance, the silver underskirts of their dark green leaves flashing, like shy debutantes ‒ as if to tempt an unsuspecting fool into loving them.
My hands itch for a brush and canvas.
Breathing deeply, I shove the swing harder than I need to.
“Higher, Mum,” Aihe calls, swinging her legs for momentum. But she doesn’t get far. The gale is against us.”

… and from the second scene…

“Is that Mr Lenton?” a woman’s gravelly voice asks. “Mr Terry Lenton?”Mr? Definitely not work. “Speaking.”“This is Inspector Turner of Wellington Central Police.”Terry clears his throat. “Yes?”“Sir, we have your children in custody.”“What? My kids!” Terry’s pulse bounds, fork clanking onto his plate.“Could you come down to the station right away, please?”“What’s happened? Where’s Kendra?”“We were hoping you could tell us.”

Step up, as close as you dare…

…to a place at the edge of sanity, where cicadas scritch across balmy summer nights,
at the edge of town, where the cell phone coverage is decidedly dodgy,
at the edge of space, where a Mimbinus argut bounds among snowy rocks,
at the edge of the page, where demon princes prance in the shadows,
at the edge of despair, where 10 darushas will get you a vodka lime and a ring-side seat,
at the edge of the universe, where time stops but space goes on…

From the brink of civilisation, the fringe of reason, and the border of reality, come 22 stories infused with the bloody-minded spirit of the Antipodes, tales told by the children of warriors and whalers, convicts and miners: people unafraid to strike out for new territories and find meaning in the expanses at the edge of the world.

Compiled by award-winning editing team Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray, and including a story by Arthur C. Clarke finalist Phillip Mann and introduction by World Fantasy Award winner Angela Slatter, At the Edge is a dark and dystopic collection from some of Australia and New Zealand’s best speculative writers.

At the Edge will be launched next weekend at Au Contraire 2106, the National New Zealand Convention of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Attack on Dragons Realm on 99c pre-order

Phantom Feather Press have put my latest e-book on 99 cent pre-order – so family and friends can grab a copy before the real price kicks in. But be quick, the offer ends soon.

Attack on Dragons Realm – Blurb

Drums pound the danger signal. Tharuks, monsters from another world, are attacking Dragons’ Realm. Three friends must separate – Jerrick must train as a dragon rider, Benno as a warrior and Reina as a wizard. War grows closer every day. To save their families, they must endure tough training and overcome their darkest fears. Only the upcoming battle will prove their worth.

An interactive book, where you choose how you read the story. One beginning, one end and three middles – you choose which order you read them in.

Other Dragons Realm novels

Attack on Dragons Realm is the prequel to Dragons Realm – A You Say Which Way Adventure. In Dragons Realm, you are running from the school bullies when you stumble through a world gate, into a world of dragons. monsters and magic. You make decisions as you read, changing the shape of your reading experience. With 22 possible endings, you can read and re-read, experiencing a different stories.

I originally wroteEzaara, the first book in Riders of Fire, seven years ago. Despite fifteen revisions, winning an award for the first three chapters, and an offer of publication in 2013, I wasn’t happy with version fifteen! Over the years, my beta readers for Ezaara have begged me to publish the book, wanting to know what happens in books 2 & 3!! (And yes, book two is already written, but no one has seen it! I wasn’t sure how to fix these books.)

After more years writing and honing my craft, I’m now in a position to revise these books. I’m excited. Dragons Realm is a fun, intriguing world I love to explore. It’s exhilarating – riding dragons, mind-melding and falling in love on dragon-back. I can’t wait to work on these books.

In the meantime, Attack on Dragons Realm, suitable for 10-13 year-olds, or Dragons Realm (8-12 yrs olds) are available on Amazon.

Attack on Dragons Realm is a fun adventure with exciting action and twists. Attack on Dragons Realm is available in paperback and e-book. Get your copy here now! 99c kindle offer ends soon.

Story accepted for At the Edge

I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that I’ve had a story accepted for At The Edge, a dark speculative fiction anthology being released in the middle of 2016.

My story Call of the Sea explores some dark themes, indeed – abandonment, rejection, grief and insanity, but be warned, I like happy endings.

There were a truckload of submissions. The award-winning editors, Lee Murray and Dan Rabarts, said they had enough quality stories to make two great collections, but are only making one at this stage. The anthology will be published by Paper Road Press and launched at Au Contraire, the NZ science fiction fantasy convention, in Wellington this June.

Here is the table of contents for At the Edge, alphabetically by author surname:

Writer’s Island

I recently appeared on Radio Access in their Writer’s Island program. The discussion topic was anthologies and collections. Three Wellington anthology editors were in the studio, hosted by Deb Potter.

The guests were Alicia Ponder, Blair Polly and me. We discuss how to put a collection together – the submission process, evaluating stories, funding, marketing the books – and lessons we’ve leaned as editors. It was fun to get together at the radio station and interesting to hear the journeys behind each collection.

Our host, Deb Potter, presents Writer’s Island, is a journalist, has completed Victoria University’s Institute of Modern Letter’s Masters in Creative Writing program and writes children’s and general fiction.

Alicia Ponder has written for New Zealand’s school journal (a New Zealand educational publication), co-edited The Best of Twisty Christmas Tales, and edited Lost in the Museum – a Young Adult collection based in Te Papa, New Zealand’s national museum. Lost in the Museum won the 2015 Sir Julius Vogel award for best collection.

Blair Polly is an entrepreneur, the editor of Sweet As, a collection of contemporary short stories (for adults) with a New Zealand flavor. Blair had the good fortune of editing the work of some of New Zealand’s top authors. He also writes adult fiction, children’s interactive stories and children’s adventure quizz books.

I was there as the co-editor of The Best of Twisty Christmas Tales and sub-editor of Lost in the Museum.

You can hop in your boat and row out to Writer’s Island or just check out the podcast below.

This box set contains four interactive e-books by New Zealand authors:

Creepy House by D M Potter

Dinosaur Canyon by Blair Polly

Deadline Delivery by Peter Friend

Dinosaurs, dragons, pirates, wild dogs, monsters, weird divers and a spooky house – all in one boxed set. Kids will have hours of fun exploring Four More YSWW Adventures and finding lots of cool endings. Be the hero in your own story with You Say Which Way.

Dragon Tales is live on Amazon!

Happy New Year! Well, we finally got here. 2015 is fading and 2016 beckons on the horizon. This has been a hectic year, and the holiday season has been no exception!

My latest book, Dragon Tales, has just been released by Phantom Feather Press. Dragon Tales, a collection of dragon-themed stories for kids, will be at a special introductory price of $0.99 for the next few days, so family and friends can grab a bargain before the price goes up. Available on Amazon.

Whether you’re looking for a nip, a nibble, or a chomp-sized story, wing your way to an adventure with Dragon Tales.

Dragon, dragons and more dragons… modern dragons, medieval dragons and dragons in unexpected places! The full Dragon Tales blurb is here.

I wish you a happy start to the New Year and a great 2016. May many great books come your way! If you’d like to know when my new books are out, sign up for reader updates!

I know this is naughty, very naughty, but I just cant help the victory dance, the evil maniacal laughter or the sly grin breaking across my face!! I beat Rick Riordan! Dragons Realm shot past two of his books on the Amazon charts! Yes! Yes! Yes! I beat Rick Riordan! The giant of kid’s fiction.The hero of middle grade and young adult readers! The inventor of Percy Jackson!!!!

My kids worship him, and (ahem) so do I.

Wow! I was gobsmacked last week to get to #3 in kid’s interactive fiction, with his book sitting right above mine, but WOW, now Dragons Realm is above TWO of his books!

Okay, okay, Amazon rankings change hourly, so it may be short-lived glory, but let’s celebrate while we can… I’m not deluded, it won’t last long, but here is the moment immortalized by a screenshot! So when I’m an elderly granny in my rocker on a space shuttle bound for somewhere, (funny image that – a rocker floating around in zero gravity with granny’s knitting needles flying around in a tangle of wobbling wool) I can glance at the antique screenshot and smile and, by then, no one except me will remember who Rick or Eileen are! But I will! And cackle hysterically!